Crusty, homegrown spots aren't new, and yet they're one of the most interesting and vibrant things going on in skating today. This essay and photofeature looks at the appeal of DIY skating. Long live 'crete!

Thanks to Jim Beam, garlic, road miles, gas cards, Waters and crew, Monster, Contour, Sypniewski, and all the bands. Jaws, Raybourn, Gravette, and four SOTYs—one epic adventure. Hopefully another one is right around the corner...

St. Louis under the bridge, from the gutter to the stars. Here's Raney, Fardell, Gerwer, Riley Hawk and the crew. Also, this has one of the gnarliest spots on the trip; Hermann's Hole—a river dance nightmare.

Here's more photos and footage from this year's SOTY party. This was the first venue in years to not give us a permanent ban. Thanks to everyone who showed, the bands, sponsors Monster and HoodieBuddie, and most of all, David Gonzalez.

In This Issue Classic power meets innovation on the March front as AVE goes over the back to switch 5-0 in NYC. There's 14 more pages of Van Engelen inside, so don't sweat it; Cyril Jackson talks about skating the streets (and sleeping in them), the Naawwsty Crew rolls deep from ATL to FL; Krooked krushes Korea; the Deathwish team spreads some love on the East Coast and Shane O'Neill has a killer ten-page feature. You heard what he did at Wallenberg, right?Add this one to your collection.